Framing using Golden Section

Coxby · Post by **Coxby** » Tue 29 Nov, 2005 8:57 am

I've recently had a client from London who wants her upcoming exhibition pieces to be designed using the rules of Golden Section and Fibonacci Numbers. Has/does anyone currently use this method and can they give me some pointers how to correctly proportion the mount? Many thanks.

Post by **John** » Tue 29 Nov, 2005 10:24 am

Have a look here for a bit of background on the "Golden Rule"
http://technology.guardian.co.uk/online ... 98,00.html

I seem to remember this topic being discussed in an earlier thread about mount proportions - doesn't some photographic site which has an easy to use formula?

Framing Norah · Post by **Framing Norah** » Tue 29 Nov, 2005 8:33 pm

Hi Coxby

This is the guide to finding the 'Optical Centre' of a mount, and probably what John was struggling to remember.
http://carbonphoto.cicada.com/pdf/opticalcentre.pdf

I'm not sure that it is what you are after, as it is a tool to enable you to place an image at the optical centre of a pre-defined rectangle. However, it gives no guidance on the width of the borders, which may be what you realy want to know.

If you prefer to use a formula: -

If A is the diffrernce in width between your image and your mount.
B the difference in height.
W is the overall width of your mount.
Then D - the amount you must shift the image up from the centre, is given by the formula: D = (A x B)/(W x 2)

If your customer has specified the outside mount dimensions for each piece, then this is the technique to use. I'm not keen on it myself, as I do not like the fact that it forces the top border to be narrower than the sides, but that's a personal preference.

Hope this helps.

Post by **John** » Thu 01 Dec, 2005 2:15 pm

If you are doing a number of 'Optical Centre' type mounts, setting up a simple spreadsheet (eg. Excel) would save a lot of time and ensure accuracy.